Technical Field
The present invention relates to a textile having moisture absorption properties and durability as well as good texture, which is used for articles including Japanese paper as a material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a textile which can be suitably used for running shoes and the like which have excellent durability and cause less damage on the foot.
Related Art
To increase the durability of running shoes, the primary focus is placed on an improvement of shoe soles. Formation of a shoe sole having an integrated structure is disclosed in which ridge-like projections provided on a bottom end face of a midsole are fitted/fixed to grooves formed in the bottom of an outsole (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 08-182504). For athletic running shoes, especially for long-distance running shoes, however, damage of the upper part is also taken seriously as a result of the pursuit of the maximum possible weight reduction. The damage on the foot due to the pursuit of durability must also be avoided. For example, the trouble that the moisture in shoes during sports softens the skin to produce corns followed by breaking of corns or so must be avoided.
As upper materials to reduce the moisture in shoes, fabrics made of fibers excellent in moisture absorption properties and quick-drying may be considered. Even if fibers with relatively high moisture absorption properties, such as cotton and rayon, are used, the trouble that the moisture in shoes softens the skin to produce corns followed by breaking of corns or so cannot be avoided under severe use conditions in fact. Synthetic fibers such as polyester and nylon may have satisfactory strength but have poor moisture absorption properties, so that the trouble that the moisture in shoes during sports softens the skin to produce corns followed by breaking of corns or so cannot be avoided.
As materials of yarns having both moisture absorption properties and high strength, yarns including Japanese paper may be considered (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-192724). When a textile of plain weave texture as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-192724 or the like produced by using a yarn made simply from Japanese paper, or a textile obtained by passing a yarn made of Japanese paper as a weft through a yarn made of a synthetic fiber for reinforcement and the like as a warp is used as an upper material, there may be concerns about problems of the durability under hard sports and the skin damage of the foot.